So with five weeks left in the regular season, how much better can the third-ranked Buckeyes get?
That is what we’re looking at this week in Ohio State football with a focus on four specific areas:
1. How good can the quarterback be?
Kyle McCord leads the Big Ten in passing yards (276.7 per game), yards per completion (14.8) and is second in passing efficiency.
There seems to be a sense he could have done even more, though, and that is not just a crazy expectation from people on the outside used to watching Ohio State quarterbacks dominate the competition for the last decade-plus.
His head coach also wants to see McCord’s trajectory continue to rise.
“There were really good plays and then certainly plays where you’d like to execute better,” Day said Tuesday after grading the film of Ohio State’s win over Penn State. “I don’t think that’s unique to Kyle. I think there’s a lot of guys who felt that way. And he’s in a much different place than he was early in the season. He’s got two top 10 wins under his belt, so there’s got to be a lot of confidence there.
“But there’s still room for growth, which is exciting. When we watch the film, I mean there’s there’s things that we did well and there were other things that we can do better. So he was critical of himself. We’re critical of ourselves as coaches making sure we’re putting them in the right spot.”
2. What about the offensive line?
A group with three new starters held its own against an elite Penn State pass rush, but the Buckeyes could not run the ball in the second half.
In rewatching the game, this did not seem to be an issue of the Nittany Lions loading the box. The blocking was just subpar, as it has been for most of the season.
Day was asked about new left tackle Josh Simmons and first-year center Carson Hinzman and acknowledged both have room to grow.
He sounded a little more optimistic about Simmons, a true junior who started at San Diego State last year. He is a year older and more experienced than Hinzman, a redshirt freshman from Wisconsin.
“There’s some really great of film out there” Day said of Simmons. “You’re seeing finish. You’re seeing pad level. You’re seeing really high-end play. It just needs to be a bit more consistent.
Day listed more extenuating circumstances with Hinzman, who would likely be the No. 2 center if Luke Wypler hadn’t surprisingly opted to enter the NFL Draft last winter.
“He’s grown with it,” Day said. “He’s building. It’s not an easy job, but again, the goal is that he’s going to be playing his best football football here down the stretch.”
3. And the running game as a whole?
While many plays could have been blocked better on Saturday, there were plenty on which it looked like the running backs could have gotten more if they hit a hole more quickly, especially early in the game when they were trying to establish an outside running game.
Advanced stats show the Buckeyes is 81st nationally in line yards, meaning the blockers are below-average in creating room in the early part of a run. But the Buckeyes are even worse in second-level yards (118th), which measure yards 6-10 on a run, and open-field yards, which are yards beyond 10 yards (103rd). That means when the backs get through the line, they aren’t going anywhere.
Of course, speedster TreVeyon Henderson has shown he can go the distance on any play, but he has missed the last three games and was injured most of last season after a stellar freshman campaign in 2021.
“Certainly, that was a big difference in what we were doing,” Day said. “We have confidence in all of our running backs. He does allow us to hit a home run and be explosive. There is a lot that comes with that.
“Hopefully, he can have a great week of practice and go put it on the field.”
4. And then there is the defense…
Wait, what? Isn’t this group coming off a stellar performance?
Yes, but that does not mean Jim Knowles is ready to collect any awards.
Ohio State’s defensive coordinator even had a pair of specific things he wants to see improve: Adjusting to pre-snap potion and reacting when he makes a bad play call.
The latter statement drew some laughs, but the idea would be the defense can take yet another step once the players can handle any type of adversity, which is inevitable.
“That’s joking, but at the same time, it’s like, ‘Okay, if we are not perfect in everything let’s make sure that we still have leverage and get the ball on the ground,’” Knowles said. “You know, that controlled chaos when something happens that wasn’t exactly planned. How are we reacting to that? How are we handling that?”
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